Fuu's Fantastic Birthday!
by Twilightstar7
Summary: It's Fuu's 16th birthday! Can the boys make it fantastic?


**Hey all you Samurai Champloo fans! I hope you all like this story, I had alot of fun writting it! Also, a special thanks to The Geeky Saxophonist for all the help with the slash fan seamstress and edo period currency! Enjoy!**

**I don't really know where this fits in with the series, but I know its in there somewhere, so put it in the place that makes the most sense to you :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Champloo, but if you'd like to give it to me as a present I'd gladly take it :)**

Fuu's Fantastic Birthday

It was a disgustingly nice spring day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and all that other crap. In short, it was the sort of day that should have had Fuu skipping down the hard-packed, dirt path, but she was moping. She trailed behind her two body guards with her head hung low. Her slow pace was irking Mugen more and more by the second. What the heck was wrong with her? Mugen turned to Jin, his rather reluctant companion, and decided to ask him. Judging by his hairstyle, he was much more in touch with his _feminine_ side. Mugen sniggered at his own private joke and Jin shot him his patented, '_what are you doing now, you insufferable buffoon?'_ look.

"Hey man, what's wrong with Fuu?" He asked, causing Jin to look over his shoulder and examine the girl.

"I suppose she does look a bit down." Jin concluded after a moment of thought.

"No shit!" Mugen hissed, "I can tell that…I meant what's causin' her to be 'a bit down'!"

"How am I supposed to know?" Jin hissed back, annoyance finally showing on his usual carefully kept neutral features, and glanced at Fuu again, "We could ask her."

"No way!" Mugen rebuked the idea instantly, "Whenever you ask a chick if somethin' is botherin' her, you get stuck listening all this emotional crap! You wanna go through that?"

"Not really," the elder Samurai admitted, "but she seems so-"

"No! There's got to be a better way…a way that gets her to perk up and walk at a decent speed _without_ all the talkin'"

"Food always seems to make her happy." Jin suggested.

"Yeah, that's right!" Mugen agreed with vigor, food was one of the things in life that never failed him. However, his happiness was short lived because it was the thing needed to procure food that was consistently elusive. "You got money for food?"

"No…" Jin replied and seemed to deflate slightly, "I'm just going to ask her what's wrong."

"Oh no ya' don't!" He cried and tackled Jin as he began to turn around towards Fuu, causing his glasses to fly off.

"What's your problem?" Jin growled as he tried to struggle out of Mugen's grasp.

"Guys! You promised you wouldn't fight until we found the Sunflower Samurai!" Fuu pleaded as she approached her bodyguards.

"I just want to ask her the question! You don't even have to be there to listen to it!"

"But then she'll think it's okay to talk about her feelings all the time!"

"Fuu-" Jin began, but was cut off when Mugen clapped a hand over his mouth. Then something he never would have expected from the soft spoken samurai occured. Jin bit him.

"Ya' f*#ing bastard!" He screamed as he pulled back his hand and released him, "You bit me!"

Mugen stared at his hand in shock, completely unaware of the fact that Jin and Fuu had begun to converse. All he could manage to do was examine the red marks on his palm. He'd bit him hard! _Great_, he thought, _now I'm going to catch Jin cooties_. He'd probably need to wear glasses and start acting like he eternally had a stick up his ass. It was after contemplating the symptoms of said affliction that he tuned back into his surroundings.

"Oh, Jin! You guys would do that?" Fuu gushed as she smiled up at the much taller Jin. Mugen frowned at the usage of 'you guys'. What exactly had Jin gotten him into?

"We'd be happy to celebrate to celebrate your birthday with you, Fuu." He agreed, shooting Mugen a glance that told him to nod and for the second time today Mugen was shocked into submission, he nodded. Of all things, it just had to be her birthday? It wasn't that he had anything personally against birthdays. Hell, maybe he did or it could be the memories he associated with them. Growing up on a felon infested island didn't really lend itself to a day filled with cake and presents. Mugen couldn't quite tell which it was anymore. All he knew was that when someone said, 'birthday' he ran the other way.

Except he couldn't run away this time, he was bound to Fuu until she found her smelly samurai. I completely pointless task, if you asked him, seeing as she didn't seem to know what the guy looked like, but she wasn't asking him. Mugen sighed and decided to go along with the whole birthday thing. He'd done way scarier things in his life…right?

"So, when's this whole 'birthday thing' goin' down?" He asked, trying to sound like he couldn't care in the least, as he got up and brushed the dust off of his tunic.

"It's kinda tomorrow…" Fuu admitted and looked down, "If it's not enough notice for you guys to do anything…I understand."

"Nonsense," Jin replied, "We're not far from town, we can get you something there."

"Sure, whatever." He added after receiving another harsh look from Jin. Why did he care so much about Fuu's stupid birthday?

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Fuu cheered and much to Mugen's approval, she picked up her pace and ran ahead.

"Ya' got money for presents and cake?" He asked Jin after Fuu had run outside of hearing distance.

"No."

"Well then you're goin' to have to get a job aren't ya'?" Mugen taunted, knowing this would get a rise out of the other man.

"Why just me?" Jin questioned indignantly.

"Oh I can think of two reasons," Mugen answered, holding up three fingers to Jin's face, "One, ya' got us into this birthday business and two…What was it again? Oh yeah, ya' friggin' bit me!"

"First of all, you are holding up the incorrect number of fingers," He replied and Mugen glanced down at his hand. _No way, _he thought as he began to count his fingers, _one…two…thr-Damn it!_

"And Secondly, you will get a job to raise money for Fuu's birthday because I won't be able to get enough on my own and she will be sad, which will inevitably lead to more 'emotional crap' as you put it."

"You're a damn, crafty bastard," Mugen sneered once he realized that Jin had him trapped, "Ya' know that, right?"

Jin just smiled slightly and kept on his way, probably knowing that that was the closest thing to a compliment he was going to get from the other man.

000000000000

Mugen angrily scrubbed at the grimy floor. The only _stupid_ job that he'd been able to get in this _stupid _town was cleaning up some tea house's kitchen. He was starting to see why the lady was paying him so much to clean one room. Even by Mugen's standards, which were fairly low, it was gross. He wouldn't be surprised if he caught food sickness by just inhaling the air in the place.

At this very moment, he wanted nothing more than to throw in the towel and tell Fuu to deal with not celebrating her birthday. What was so important about them anyways? He hadn't celebrated his in a very long time and he turned out just fine. In fact, Mugen wasn't exactly sure when his birthday even was. He was pretty sure that it was sometime in the summer and that he was in his late teens. That's all Mugen needed to know. When he was younger, his birthday had only meant that he'd spent another year in Hell. And now, another year was just another year. Mugen was fairly indifferent towards the passage of time.

Despite these strong sentiments, he continued began to wash the disgustingly high pile of dirty dishes. Even though he would never admit it out loud, he hated it when Fuu was upset and it kind of made him happy when she smiled.

"Crap!" He grumbled to himself, as he scrubbed at a crust covered plate, "Now I'm getting' all sentimental."

Mugen vowed to go out and do something more manly, to redeem himself, later to tonight. Maybe he would go to a bar, get drunk and hit on hot chicks. Yeah, that sounded much better. No more of this emotional garbage!

"Are you almost done in there?" The tea house owner called.

"Yeah, I just need a few more minutes!" Mugen replied, as he put the last plate away and began to work on the counter. After a few moments of scrubbing, he realized that the counter was actually blue. A thick layer of dirt had led him to previously believe that is was brown.

The owner, a rather large woman in a puke green kimono, peeked her head into the kitchen and stared at the floor with her mouth agape, "Oh, my! I had no idea the floor was tiled! You've done such a wonderful job!"

"Yeah…thanks lady…can I go now?" Mugen asked even though he wasn't completely done. This kitchen had to be ten times cleaner than it had ever been in his lifetime at the moment.

"Of course, here's your money!" She replied cheerily and placed a bag of money into his outstretched hand. Mugen grinned; he'd definitely made more money than old fish face had at his job with that crazy cat lady.

000000

Jin was most definitely allergic to cats. He'd never really known it before due to the fact that he'd never spent an abundance of time with a large number of cats. Another sneeze wracked his body as he brushed cat hair off of a purple kimono. It was his job, after all, to remove the hair that was shed by the seamstress's twenty-something cats from the kimonos. Jin mentally cursed Mugen for having the presence of mind to run away before being stuck with the job.

_"I do not believe a Kimono shop is the best place for us to work…" Jin had commented as he stood outside the store with Mugen._

_"Have ya' seen any other 'help wanted sings'?" Mugen asked in reply and then got a devious smirk on his face, "Plus, girls have to try on the kimonos before they buy them…catch my drift?"_

_"Would it kill you to keep your mind out of the gutter?"_

_"Probably… yeah." He answered after a few moments of what appeared to be deep thought and walked into the store._

_Jin sighed in defeat and followed Mugen. As soon as he walked through the doorway, his senses were assaulted by a cloud of cat hair. His companion coughed, obviously noticing the strange phenomenon as well. Jin's nose began to run as he approached the old lady sitting in the back. There were three cats sitting on her lap and another was lounging on the top of her head. _

_"Excuse me ma'am," Jin addressed after wiping his nose, "We saw your help wanted sign and were hoping you could give some jobs."_

_"How wonderful," the lady answered as she stroked a black and white cat with her wrinkled hand, "but I'm afraid I only need one of you for this job."_

_"Well, looks like this one is for you buddy!" Mugen said as he clapped Jin on the back and continued on before Jin could refuse, "Don't worry about me, I'm sure I can find a job somewhere else! See yah!"_

_With that, Mugen sprinted out of the shop, leaving a cloud of dust and cat hair in his wake._

Jin had to admit that her work was beautiful, but it was quite obvious that she had become a bit eccentric in her old age. Who in their right mind would want to have upwards of twenty cats? One of the accursed creatures brushed up against his legs causing him to sneeze once more and adding another layer of hair to his clothing. Jin was convinced that he could easily craft himself a fur coat from all the hair that covered him.

"How much longer would you like me to stay?" Jin asked to elderly woman, praying that she would allow him to leave.

"Oh, I think you're pretty much done," she answered as she placed the cat that had been perched on her head on the floor, "but could I trouble you to join me for a quick cup of tea? I get so lonely these days…"

"I would be happy too." He lied. He wanted nothing more than to run away from the feline infested shop, but it would be rude to refuse such a seemingly harmless request from a lonely old lady.

The seamstress clapped her hands together with a glee. She placed a closed sign on her store front window and beckoned him into a small room in the back. Thankfully, there was a great deal less cat hair and Jin was able to wait comfortably while she made some tea. A few moments later, she hobbled into the room with a pot of tea and two cups, precariously balanced on a serving tray. Upon receiving his tea, Jin was disappointed to see that there were several white cat hairs in his tea.

"So, how long have you two been together?" The seamstress asked with a devious twinkle in her eyes.

"I beg your pardon?" Jin replied after gagging slightly on his tea. She couldn't possibly mean…

"Why, you and the other young man that you came in with earlier, of course!" She clarified and Jin felt his jaw drop. The old woman giggled and took another sip of her tea, "Oh don't be so surprised that I figured it out…I have an intuition about this sort of thing. You two are just such a cute couple!"

Jin tried to reply, but no words would come out. This woman honestly thought that he was gay? What was even worse than that was she thought Mugen was his boyfriend. Mugen? How could she think that? Even if he was gay, which he wasn't, he would never date Mugen. Never in a million years.

"You'll have to excuse me," Jin whispered after finally finding his voice, "I have begun to feel ill."

"Oh really dear, that's too bad," She sympathized, handed him his money, and then winked at him, "I bet your boyfriend will take good care of you!"

He could only manage a stunned nod before actually running from the kimono store. Only one thing was certain to Jin at that moment: he was never going anywhere near that shop again.

000000

Mugen waited at the fountain in the center of the small town for Jin and Fuu. This was, after all, the place where they'd agreed to meet after completing their day jobs. They would then pool their money for room and board, and the left over money would be Fuu's birthday fund. This plan, however, would never work without the other two parties and the money they were supposed to have made today. And, much to Mugen's annoyance, they were late. The one time in his life that he was actually on time, everyone else decided to be late.

"Hello Mugen." The congested voice behind him caused him to jump and draw his sword. He didn't realize that it was Jin who had spoken until he saw him and even then, he was acutely aware of how 'un-jin like' Jin looked. His entire appearance was disheveled and his clothing was covered with a thick coat of cat hair. Jin's face was swollen and he had an extremely obvious runny nose. He also looked like he was about to puke. In summary, he looked like shit.

"Dude…what happened to ya'?" Mugen asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"I'm allergic to cats…" Jin answered as he sat on the edge of the fountain, "and the seamstress…she…"

"Spit it out, man!" He hissed as he sat next to the other guy, suddenly getting a very 'mind deeply embedded in the gutter' idea, "She didn't take advantage of ya', did she?"

"No!" Jin spat back, looking thoroughly offended, "She thought we were gay!"

Mugen was about to laugh when the fact that Jin used the word 'we' sunk in, "Wait a minute! Did you say 'we'? As in you and me…together 'we'?"

"…Yes…"

"No way!" Mugen shrieked, "Even if I was that way I could do way better than you!"

"Well I could do ten times better than you!" Jin shouted and stood.

"You take that back!"

"Never!"

"Ummm…guys?" Fuu spoke up, wearing a confused expression, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"No!" They shouted back in unison and continued to give each other death glares.

"Okay…well, I got some money working at the teahouse…" Fuu said, holding out her bag of money, "What about you guys?"

"Don't worry girlie," Mugen answered, still keeping his glare carefully trained on Jin, "We got enough money for a room and your party."

"Thanks a lot guys," Fuu thanked sincerely, but frowned when she realized that her bodyguards were still staring angrily at each other, "Remember, you guys can't fight until we find the sunflower samurai."

"Yeah…well, you didn't say nothin' 'bout starin' contests." He growled, more towards Jin than Fuu.

"Is that a challenge?" Jin asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Ya' bet your ass it is!" Mugen grinned, "and I am so goin' to win."

"Guys!" Fuu groaned in frustration as she sat on the edge of the fountain to wait for this latest spat to end.

After three minutes without blinking by either parties, Mugen was beginning to see the signs of weakness in Jin. The other man had begun to fidget and his eyes were watering excessively. He had this one in the bag! Just as he was sure that Jin was going to blink, one of the last rays of sunlight for the day, bounced off of Jin's glasses right into his face, causing him to blink.

"Jin wins!" Fuu, who was apparently judging the contest, declared.

"No way!" Mugen cried, "The sun bounced off of his glasses! He cheated!"

"That's not cheating according to the rules of staring contests." Fuu stated, sounding rather official.

"Who made you the judge? You stupid bi-"

"Mugen." Jin cut him off, giving him a look that Mugen swore had a hint of protectiveness in it. Since when had Jin started caring about Fuu's feelings so much?

"Fine," he grumbled, "best two out of three."

"Perhaps we continue this tomorrow so we can find a room?" Jin reasoned, suddenly looking very tired.

"Alright, but don't go tryin' to back out on me."

"I would never miss a chance to prove that I am superior to you."

"In your dreams fish face!"

00000000

Mugen had done a lot of impossible things in his life. Hell, he'd managed to survive jumping off a cliff into shark infested waters _with _his hands tied behind his back. He'd always been sure that if he could do that, he could do anything. So why the hell was birthday shopping so hard?

He had always scoffed at Fuu when she had remarked upon how much skill it took to find a good deal for a new kimono or pair of sandals when shopping. Mugen had shot her down, claiming that swordplay was a skill, shopping was not. As of this moment, he was seriously starting to doubt his earlier convictions. It was frickin' hard to find something that wasn't outrageously priced and whenever he did, some oversized lady would push him to the side and take it.

So, bruised and beaten, Mugen trudged down the passageways of the open air market, wishing that he had opted to by the cake. This was supposed to be the easier job. All he had to do was pick something random, give it to Fuu and play the 'isn't it the thought that counts' card. The thing was that he couldn't bring himself to pick out something without thought and even though he'd never in a million years admit it out loud, he's sort of started caring for Fuu. There was definitely emphasis on the sort of and it wasn't in a romantic way either. It was more like a 'I don't like it when you're sad' thing.

Mugen shook his head roughly. He was getting sentimental…again! He blamed it on the fact that he hadn't gotten to get a drink and flirt with girls, like he'd planned to, last night because according to fish face there wasn't enough money for it. Mugen sighed, this whole birthday thing was really messing with him…

"Excuse me sir," a little old lady tugged on his sleeve as she addressed him, "Would you be interested in buying any charms? They're the perfect gift for anyone, any time of the year!"

The ex-pirate was about to tell the woman to back off and bother someone else, when he remember that Fuu had a bunch of charms attached to that girly little _tanto _she carried around. "Depends…how much do they cost?"

"Oh, two _nishuban _each," the lady answered as she guided him over to her stand, "Plus its buy two get one free!"

"Sweet!" Mugen vocalized, he had enough for that and then some. The 'then some' would undoubtedly be used to buy a drink for himself later tonight.

"Is there anything you had in mind?" She asked after Mugen had spent a few moments staring, in an overwhelmed manner, at the large selection of charms. Which one should he pick?

"Not really…it's for a girl though," he said, examining the selection once more, "Could ya' help me out here? I aint' good at this sort of thing."

"Of course!" The lady answered with a huge, nearly toothless smile, "Does she have any pets? Girls love carrying around charms of their pets!"

"Um…yeah! She has this flying rat thing! It's called mookie…or mumu or somthin' like that!" He answered, demonstrating the flying motion with his arms and jacket.

"A flying squirrel?" The stand owner guessed, regarding him like he was a few marbles short of a full jar.

"Yeah!" Mugen answered enthusiastically as she handed him a charm shaped like Fuu's pet, "Now give me two more random girly ones and I'll pay ya'!"

00000000000

Fuu paced nervously about the room that she and her two bodyguards had rented. They'd left early this morning and it was now encroaching on lunch time. She was beginning to think that agreeing to celebrate her birthday was part of an elaborate to get away from her. How long did it take to buy cake and presents after all?

"Oh, Momo," Fuu crooned as she stroked her pet, "You'd never leave on my birthday, would you?"

Momo made a happy squeaking noise before taking off and flying out the window. The newly sixteen year old girl stared at her empty hands and felt tears start to spring up in her eyes. _No one wants to spend my birthday with me! _She thought dispiritedly.

"Ya' cryin' already?" A rough voice interrupted Fuu from her mental spiraling, "You haven't even seen what we got you yet!"

She looked up, seeing Mugen and Jin standing before her, each holding a package in their hands. Fuu also noticed, with some amusement, that Momo had nested in Mugen's hair and the man in question was now trying to detach the creature from his head. Whilst her other bodyguard waged a battle of his own, Jin unwrapped his package revealing a yellow cake and sixteen little wax candles.

"What are the candles for?" Fuu asked, leaning towards her cake.

"The shop keeper told me that it was a European custom to put candles in a birthday cake, light them, blow them out, and make a wish," Jin answered, "I thought you might like it."

"Oh, Jin, it's perfect!" She cried as he began to put candles in the cake, "What should I wish for."

"I believe that is something you're supposed to come up with."

Fuu frowned slightly. What to wish for? What did she want the most? Did she want revenge on her father for abandoning her and mom? Did she want her mother alive again? She smelled smoke as Jin lit the candles and looked up at her two bodyguards: A composed ronin and a rugged ex-pirate. They certainly didn't look the job. Upon studying the two men, she realized what she wanted to wish for.

_Please…don't let them kill each other… I want them here for my next birthday…_

With that, Fuu blew out her candles.

"So…" Mugen, apparently resigned to having Momo sit in his hair, spoke up, "What'd ya' wish for?"

"It's a secret!" Fuu giggled, holding a finger to her lips, knowing this would irk the man.

"You don't get your presents 'til ya' tell us!" He threatened dangling the package by its strings in front of her face.

"That's not fair, Mugen!" She cried indignantly, earning a grin from the reckless swordsman as he dropped the present into her lap.

"Relax girlie, I was just kiddin'"

Fuu couldn't stop herself from smiling like a fool as she opened her present. She couldn't tell you why, but that had always been her favorite part of getting presents. Shredding the wrapping revealed three charms for her _tanto. _One was shaped like Momo, the second was a rainbow and the last one was a pink heart. She was honestly surprised. She hadn't been expecting such a thoughtful gift from Mugen. She hadn't really been expecting all that much from either of them at all.

Tears welled up in her eyes again and she flung her arms around both of their necks, "I really love you guys!"

After a few moments of hugging, Fuu released them. A light blush colored Jin's face and Mugen just looked slightly surprised, but skeptical. He coughed awkwardly, "Can we, um, eat the cake now?"

"Sure, but I get to have the first bite 'cuz I'm the birthday girl!"

"No way! You'll eat the whole thing in one bite!"

"I will not!"

"Yeah right, girlie, I've seen you around dessert," Mugen insisted leaning closer and pointed at the cake, "Trust me, if this thing had legs, it would be runnin'."

_~Thanks for reading! Reviews are much appreciated (even if it's just a thumbs up or a thumbs down)~_


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